JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Price Target to $48.00

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its target price cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $55.00 to $48.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on CAKE. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.81.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $48.70 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.55. Cheesecake Factory has a twelve month low of $33.05 and a twelve month high of $57.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $920.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $912.67 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%. Equities research analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In related news, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total transaction of $5,308,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 3,092,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,131,162.76. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total transaction of $1,553,240.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,134,687.36. The trade was a 42.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 108.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 616 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 1,149.5% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 1,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,321 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

About Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated operates and licenses restaurants in the United States and Canada. The company operates bakeries that produce cheesecakes and other baked products for its restaurants, international licensees, third-party bakery customers, external foodservice operators, retailers, and distributors.